Multiple belt mule drive



Sept. 12, 1950 E. R. TRAXLER MULTIPLE BELT MULE DRIVE Filed April 1, 1946 Patented Sept. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES rar eu'r OFFICE.

' Y v a 1 2,522,148 2 l 2 i MULTI'rnn BELTMULE DRIVE :E ugene Rillfi-axler, ":S tOWBgQhiO, assignor :to The Ed. Goodrich pCompany; New York, N. :Y,, 'a corporation ofi NewfYork fAppfication -April 1, 1946,Se1"ial No. 658,? 31

dance from the driverto the idlers and the idlers rtothe driven pulley is short andthe band ofbelts isx-Wide; although the-inventionis useful also in -drives which the centers are spaced aparta melativelygreater distance. p

-I-Ieretofore, in .the use of single idling or mule rpulleys inrnultiple belt mule drives,xwhen the bandiofrbelts was wide because of the large carriedtload and the center distances from the mule pulleys to the driver and driveniwlereshort, the

lengths necessary for the'outer icenter belts have been different. With a setofbelts of the isa'mellength applied to this type 'of drive, the outside lbelts will be relatively tight and the "cen- .ter belts will be ."relatively slack. The relatively Zloose beltsiwill to slip and the relatively tight belts-twill tend :to creep,'bothr undesirable characteristics because they cause 'wear and .loss: of power. EObjects of the invention are to provide .for eliminating 'loravoiding 'the'=foregoing and :other -diffi'culties; to :provide for greater mower-transzni-itting-capacityand increased belt life in drives of themulettypeyto provide for the effective utiliization of multiple V--be'ltsof :equalllength in; a drive or the mule type; to providefioreiiective operation .twith 'shorlt pulley-center distances, especially in a v-belt mule drive installation; and to provide for simplicity in'construction and efs'igeiency -of operation. p 1

Referring to the drawings: H Fig. 1 istan elevation of a multiple V -belt mule drive constructed in accordance with and embodyingthe invention, parts being broken away. Fig. 2 is a'plan view of thedrive of Fig, "1. "Fig. dis a sectional view taken along 'the' line 3 3 Fig.1. l v

The present invention makes possible belt paths of equal lengths or substantially so, by a special construction of the idler or mule pulleys, the arrangement being such as to equalize the stress on the belts and allow a large load to be carried. The creep and slippage that have been experienced with prior mule pulley arrangements are substantially eliminated or reduced by the invention.

The drive of the embodiment of the invention illustrated comprises a driving shaft ll driving a driven shaft 12 by means of grooved pulleys l3 ea s. (01. 7 4 -226) and I4, mounted upon the shafts and coacting 55 wvitha series of endless'V-belts 15 of equal length. The driving shaft 1 I and driven shaft t2 axes ,are ,notparallel and may be mounted at substantially right angles, as shown. The V-belts i5 :p-ass-over two-groups of grooved idler pulleys l5, ll and B8 in one group and 22,23 and 2d in the other, .said pulleys guiding and turning the V- belts 15. .In turning the band of =belts IS, the center-belts would tend to have a shorterbelt "path than those 'of the 'outerbelts if the idler 312111183 31 5, ll, I8, 22,23 and were'of the same diameter. A constant length belt path for all .thebelts .is desirable owing to the factthat sets I of industrial V ebelts are usually matched to the samelength. To accommodate belts of the same flength, the reenter idlerpulleys I'l' and-23 oft-each group have. larger pitch diameters than the outer xid-ler'pulleys l6, I8, 22 and Ed by an amount neczaessary to equalize substantially thecenter belt ,pathszand the outer belt paths. Said idler cpululeys 16, [-51, i8, 122, 23' and '24 rotate :on separate hearings lid, preferably of the anti-friction type, :SQQl-fl'fiiflitb their respective idler shafts 25 and 26. Theiellershaftsifi andzfi are mounted in brackcetszrzll and 21., by nuts '2 l screwedion :the threaded ends of the idler shafts dtzand :26. ,Said brackets fiilaandiiil are mounted in such a position that'the icllingpulleys hall, is, 22, 23 andzd will guide the iwbelts t5 from the driving pulley i3 to the driven pulley M.

-Variations may be made Without departing :f-rorn'the scope "of the inventionas it isv hereinaaiter claimed.

ill claim:

1. Am u'ltiple belt mule drive comprising driving and driven pulleyson non-parallel axes, a p'luralityof independently rotatableiidler pulleys intermediate the firstsaidpul-leys, and a pluralityaof belts of substantially equal length about said driving and driven pulleys, a belt passing =-over=1one of said idler pulleys and another sbelt passing over another .idler pulley, said idler pulleys being constructed and arranged in side-byside relationship with said driving and driven and idler pulleys together presenting substantially equal belt paths for said belts despite the belt turns required by virtue of the non-parallel axes of said driving and driven pulleys.

2. A multiple V-belt mule drive comprising grooved driving and driven pulleys on non-parallel axes, a plurality of independently rotatable grooved idler pulleys intermediate the first said pulleys, and a plurality of V-belts of substantially equal length in the grooves of said driving driving pulley and a driven pulley on non-parallel axes, idler pulleys intermediate said driving pulley and said driven pulley, a plurality of belts of substantially equal lengths disposed in a band about the driving pulley, the intermediate idler pulleys and the driven pulley, said intermediate idler pulleys comprising groups of idler pulleys, each group comprising a center idler pulley and side pulleys coaxial with and at each side of said center idler pulley, the innermost of said band of belts being carried by said center idler pulley and the outer belts of said band being carried by said side pulleys, said side pulleys having diameters smaller than the diameters of said center idler pulley by an amount to equalize substantially the paths of said belts.

4. A multiple V-belt mule drive comprising a grooved driving pulley and a grooved driven pulley on non-parallel axes, grooved idler pulleys intermediate said driving pulley and said driven pulley, a plurality of V-belts of substantially equal length disposed in a band in the grooves of said driving pulley, idler pulleys and driven pulley, said intermediate idler pulleys comprising groups of grooved idler pulleys, each group comprising a center idler pulley and side pulleys coaxial quired by virtue of the non-parallel axes of said driving and driven pulleys.

5. A multiple V-belt mule drive comprising a driving pulley and .a, driven pulley on non-parallel axes, idler pulleys intermediate said driving pulley and said driven pulley, each of said pulleys having a plurality of grooves for carrying a plurality of V-belts of substantially equal length disposed in .a band about said driving, driven and idler pulleys, said intermediate idler pulleys comprising groups of grooved idler pulleys, each group comprising a center idler pulley having a plurality of grooves and side pulleys co-axial with and at each side of said center idler pulley each having a plurality of grooves, the innermost of said band of belts being carried by said center idler pulley and the outer belts of said band being carried by said side pulleys, the pitch diame- 4 ters oi the grooves of said side pulleys being smaller than the pitch diameters of the grooves of said idler pulley by an amount to equalize substantially the belt paths of said V-belts despite the turns of the belts required by virtue of the non-parallel axes of said driving and driven pulleys.

6. A multiple belt mule drive comprising a driving pulley and a driven pulley on nonparallel axes, idler pulleys intermediate said driving pulley and said driven pulley, a plurality of belts of substantially equal lengths disposed in a band about the driving pulley, the intermediate vidler pulleys and the driven pulleys, said idler pulleys comprising groups of idler pulleys, each roup comprising coaxial idler pulleys having diameters differing by an amount to equalize substantially the paths of said belts despite the turns required by virtue of the non-parallel axes of said driving and driven pulleys.

. '7. A multiple V-belt mule drive comprising a grooved driving pulley and a grooved driven pulley on non-parallel axes, grooved idler pulleys intermediate said driving and driven pulleys, a plurality of V-belts of substantially equal length disposed in a band in the grooves of said driving pulley, idler pulleys and driven pulleys, said idler pulleys comprising groups of grooved idler pulleys, each group comprising coaxial idler pulleys having pitch diameters differing by an amount to equalize substantially the belt paths of said V-belts despite the turns of the belts required by virtue of the non-parallel axes of said driving and driven pulleys.

8. A multiple V-belt mule drive comprising grooved driving and driven pulleys 0n non-parallel axes, a plurality of independently rotatable grooved idler pulleys intermediate the first said pulleys, and a plurality of V-belts of substantially equal length in the grooves of said driving and driven pulleys, a V-belt passing over one of said grooved idlerpulleys and another V-belt passing over another grooved idler pulley, said idler pulleys being so angularly disposed in relation to said driving and driven pulleys and the itch diameters of all said pulleys being so related to one another as to provide substantially equal belt paths for said V-belts despite the belt turns required by virtue of the non-parallel axes of said driving and driven pulleys.

EUGENE R. TRAXLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 423,046 Gregg Mar. 11, 1890 1,031,106 Camp July 2, 1912 1,823,493 Hubbard Sept. 15, 1931 

